One mistake
by Electrical storm 1996
Summary: "The fear of losing you... well looks like it made me lose you,"


**Hello, **

**I've been terrible at updating all of my stories, so instead of doing just that, it's another Tony and Bruce one shot! I feel like I'm flunking responsibility a little here but hey, c'est la vie.**

**So this is kind of a follow on from 'Breaking walls and building bridges' but it can stand alone as well so reading that isn't necessary- however if you like this then I suggest reading that because it's pretty much the same style… I think. **

**Contains mild language, I still thought it counted as 'T' but please let me know if you disagree, I can always change it. Fanfic is making me kinda paranoid at the moment. **

**This could be seen as Pepper bashing, but it's really not supposed to be. She's just doing what she thinks is best, I hope it's not too OOC. **

**This has taken me over 3 months to write and I'm not sure I'll ever be completely happy with it, but here's my best shot. I'm thinking of an AU high school fic, like a school for the gifted and talented sort of thing with all of le avengers and x-men etc involved but I'm not really sure at the moment… it's a possibility. **

**Anyways, on with the show. **

**Disclaimer:**

**You can't deny their love,  
It's something Clint is sick of,  
Filling Stark with glee,  
While Bruce sips his herbal tea,  
Natasha and Clint plot,  
Helped along by Pepper Potts,  
They plan to steal Tony's teddy,  
But it doesn't stop Stanner going steady,  
And in the end we can all say,  
Mini Capsicle is just too cool anyway.**

"It's been a year… isn't this the time when I'm supposed to do it? Sure, a year ago even thinking about this would scare the shit out of me and cause me to go running off into some darkened room with a bottle of scotch and a hot blonde girl… but I'm not the same man, at least, I think I'm not. I'm sure this is what I want to do, but what if it's not what he wants? Perhaps I should start small, perhaps a puppy or something? Maybe a cat… requires less attention. Pepps… what the fuck should I do?" Pepper Potts often thought Tony sounded like a small child, lost and very, very confused. Usually she would smile, flick her strawberry blonde ponytail and reveal all the answers he wanted like some wise agony aunt. This time however, she knew she couldn't.

"Tony, I…I'm not sure it's a brilliant idea," at his heart broken expression she sighed softly and took his hand in hers, "Whatever you decide you know he won't mind. He adores you. Just don't… don't scare him… or yourself. Make sure you are certain before you do anything," Tony nodded along with what she was saying and Pepper laughed as he scrunched up his nose in thought. She had always adored his thinking face. Without a second thought, one she would later wish she'd had, she leant forward and pressed their lips together briefly; inhaling the familiar scent of his aftershave and revelling in the familiar feel of his goatee against her chin.

"Peps… Pepper… Pepper Potts what are you doing?" As soon as Tony broke away from her she began to feel mildly embarrassed, even more so when his eyes scrunched up in confusion they way she always found endearing but knew was due to her unprecedented move. She knew, and had known since before Tony did, that he was in love with the doctor. Then again, she was pretty sure he'd had the suspicion of her attraction to Happy a long time before she knew of it. At first it had put her on edge, irked her, that such a man as Bruce Banner could hold the attention of the infamous Tony. After all, they were practically opposites; the only thing that brought them together was their love of science.

Bruce Banner was gentle, quiet, outspoken and calm. He was smooth edges and a light smile whilst drinking camomile tea, and yet he had the potential to be the most damaging thing the earth had ever faced. On the opposite side of the scale was her boss, charming, loud, narcissistic and sarcastic. Tony was raucous parties and a girl on one arm whilst sipping champagne. Pepper didn't want to feel the way she did, like she had to protect her boss, but she just couldn't help it when faced with him being romantically involved with Bruce.

It wasn't just her selfishness, she assured herself, and it was just common sense. She knew Tony and she knew he wouldn't be able to cope with a monotonous relationship no matter how much he thought he could… not that dating an Avenger would lead to a dull and flat life of course. One day Tony was bound to just burst, have an affair and leave Bruce broken hearted, meaning he'd turn into the Hulk and get his own revenge. Really, wasn't she just saving the city- saving time and pain?

Nonetheless, she couldn't stop the guilt she felt when she saw Tony's face.

"I don't understand… we're over Peps. We've been over for a year, you're the one that broke it off-remember? All that, we're not really in love with each other stuff, telling me I was in love with Bruce, showing me the truth! I don't get it, why did you just…" His voice grew more and more agitated with every word and eventually he was on his feet, pacing and twirling on his heels as he always did when he came across a particularly difficult equation. "No… we are over. I love him, for fucks sake Peps, I think I want to propose to him!"

"He's dangerous Tony! Everyone else can see that, why can't you? It's not that I mind him living here, I mean sure, at first I was a little nervous but after you built the green room it was fine- but marrying him? Are you crazy? I- I know he means a lot to you, I really do. And I want to see you happy, and I told myself that you'd be happier with him than me and I really did believe it. It's just; now, I really do think that you'd be better off not doing this. Breaking it off, leaving him. You don't even need to be with me Tony, you could go back to being your regular playboy self- just try and see the mistake you're making here," Pepper felt she was virtually pleading by the end of her miniature speech, and once Tony began to speak she knew she would have to be on her knees to make him agree with her.

"My 'regular play boy self' doesn't exist anymore Pepper, that's gone. I've moved on with my life, hell I'm even responsible now, I take care of myself more- take care of the people around me more! Bruce has made be into a better person, everyone else can see that, why can't _you_?" Throwing her own words back at her, he looked as if he was about to blow up and start screaming and ranting and raving. However he didn't, instead he calmed himself down and sat himself in the nearest armchair to think about what it was he wanted to say next. If Pepper was honest with herself, that was yet another sign of just how well Bruce was doing at changing Tony for the better. "Look, I understand you're concerned. Perhaps your concerns are even legitimate," He said much quieter, his voice pensive and slow as if making sure he was happy with each word he said. "But I'm still going to ask him to marry me. I love him, that doesn't change, and it won't. Thank you Pepps, you've just solved my whole dilemma, because now I know."

Pepper Potts watched with a sense of rising dread as Tony jumped out of his chair and all but leaped out the room heading in the direction of the labs. Perhaps she was wrong, god she hoped she was, but the unnerving sense that this would break both their hearts wouldn't leave her.

Bruce was still trying to get his legs to move, to keep going, to get as far away from Tony's room as possible. It wasn't possible he'd seen what he had- was it? His eyes had never lied to him before, but it was either face that, or Tony was lying to him instead. The first was definitely easier to account for; after all he had been working long hours and staring at screens for far too long.

Still he could not make himself turn back and confront Tony. He'd left as soon as he'd seen it, her lips on his and her hand caressing the back of his neck. Everything had been perfect, of course it had all been too good to be true, but for a second Bruce had honestly believed that karma had come back to reinstate all the happiness he'd lost over the years.

Life with Tony had been, well, perfect. The time he'd spent being alone, all those years in the wilderness he'd been so convinced he'd never find anyone. That even if he did, they wouldn't want him, how could they? In the own doctor's opinion he had very little to offer as Bruce Banner, never mind with the liability of the fact he could become the Hulk with only slight aggravation. To be with Tony, it was more then he had ever dreamed, even in the days before the pain of the transformations. Tony understood the pain of being different from everyone else, but not only that he embraced that side of Bruce.

Not that he didn't think the whole 'not scared of the hulk thing' was Tony being really stupid. In some circumstances, he had admittedly thought that Pepper would be better for his lover than he was, but that didn't mean… it couldn't mean… that he'd _wanted _it to happen. Now, even the thought of it threatened to break his heart.

Finally reaching the lab, he wondered if that was it for himself and the eccentric billionaire. What would happen to him? Would he leave the Avengers? Would he go back to occasionally living on the streets? Would he go back to Africa and live his life away where no one could reach him or hurt him? None of the questions swirling in his head had any answers, nothing made much sense at all.

Looking for something to busy himself with, he began tinkering with random objects strewn around the lab, searching for something to occupy his mind. New ideas on the theory he and Tony had been working on to figure out the Tesseract inner workings filled his mind and he began to scrawl notes on a nearby sheet of paper, but only for a few minutes before he realized that usually Tony would tease him about his need to always write things down and with his thoughts turning to his lover- or was it ex-lover now- he immediately stopped.

Bruce Banner was a man who prided himself on his ability to remain calm, which was saying a lot considering the man was modest to the point of self depreciation, and rarely prided himself on anything. At that moment though, the wall of self control was crumbling and pretty damn quickly at that. Hurt, pain and betrayal were running through his veins, as if they held precedence over even his blood as they coursed through his body. The hurt wasn't the problem though, the hurt he could control, could swallow and force down. The problem was the anger. Deep, dark anger filled with jealousy and loathing for the strawberry blonde he'd almost thought of as his friend. Looking back on it with his eyes tinted green he couldn't help but notice all the times she'd flirted with Tony, even right in front of him, all the times she'd glanced at Bruce with unease as if at any moment he'd burst out and kill all in the vicinity.

The worst part of it was the part of him that was still very much human whole heartedly agreed with her. He couldn't be trusted; he could just slip at any point and kill everyone in a 50 mile radius without even being aware of it. As much as it broke his heart, and by god it did, he couldn't help but think Pepper was doing the right thing, he could never leave Tony he was sure of it. She was saving him that, she was making Tony leave him, for the best interests of Tony and possibly even New York. A sob that was meant to be a laugh escaped him as he thought about what said man would do if he knew Bruce was thinking that way. Many times he had scolded him, told him he was more cherished- more loved- then he could ever imagine, told him no one would ever be better for him then Bruce was.

The first tear slipped; there was nothing he could do to hold it back any longer. How could he? Everything he had feared, banished to the back of his mind to stop him from running on a self destruct mission, had become reality. So wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't even hear Tony enter the lab.

"Bruce? Hey Bruce! There you are, I've been looking all over for you, I wanted to ask you something, well actually I don't really cause I'm as scared as hell and well you…Bruce?" Tony's babble ended the instant he saw him sat on the floor, arms wrapped around himself and lab coat huddled around his frame trying desperately not to let Tony hear him cry. "Bruce!" What happened, oh god… no Bruce what you saw, it wasn't what you think it was I swear it wasn't!"

A humourless chuckle escaped his lips as he looked up at his lover, the man he'd loved for so long, looking as if he was about to break down himself. "What was it then Tony? No. Don't answer me, please don't. I… I'm ok. I promise. Not just ok in myself, but with you being with her. It's for the better, I know it is. It may take me some time, maybe a long time, but one day I'll realize this really was for the greater good."

"Greater good? Greater good of what? Of me? With an IQ as high as yours it damn sure surprises me how stupid you can be!" Tony's voice broke on the last word, his eyes dropping to the floor and searching for something, anything to give him just a little courage. "I don't want anyone else… I really don't. I thought you knew that, I thought I'd made that clear to you and I can only be sorry if I didn't. Pepper kissed _me._ I didn't want her to, and I didn't ask for her to either. I made a mistake! I love you, not her- and if you can't see that then I may as well throw this ring away." Both froze, not sure how the other would react to the words which had slipped so carelessly out of Tony's mouth.

"I do know that… I do. I… I guess I just… I never really believed I guy like you, well that he could ever like a guy like me… or the other guy. I guess… after Betty… I pretty much gave up on the idea of basic human socialization at its lowest form- never mind a relationship with anyone. The fear of losing you… well looks like it's made me lose you," Bruce wasn't sure if he should say more, or simply just run. His instinct was to get as far away as possible, to simply vanish back into the life he knew before the whole world domination disaster.

He hadn't even meant to stay as long as he had. He hadn't even really wanted to take Tony's offer of staying at the 'Avenger's mansion' as it was to be called, whilst it was being rebuilt. Yet he had. He hadn't meant to fall in love with the eccentric billionaire but that had happened too. The urge to flee was growing with every second, to simply spend some time away to get his head sorted.

"It's strange- they call _me _the drama queen. You haven't lost me, not in the slightest. I... I still want you to have it, you know, if you want it…" Tony sighed, twiddling his thumbs as he thought of how to phrase what he wanted to say next, "I know what you saw was incriminating, I really do- heh look at me and my big words- but I really do love you and I really did want to propose to you, that's what I was talking to Pepper about before she smacked a big one on me. You mean everything to me, and if you still want me, I'd love to marry you…"

"Give me time to think about it Tony."

**Yeah… that took me a long time. I was going to continue with Pepper's point of view and then she makes everything better again and it ends with all smiles and laughter… but I'm not sure. I decided to leave it here, and then if anyone wants it I'll add the end bit :)**


End file.
